Scheduler

Union is an independent visual effects studio providing a creative service for feature film and television productions. Our studio is founded on a culture of originality, innovation and collaboration where our people are at the forefront of what we do. Our clients are some of the world’s top film makers who return to Union time and again as a trusted partner and creative ally. Our teams work closely with our clients through every phase of their projects and our environment is very important to both. Our new studio in Montreal is an exciting expansion of our London studio and our staff and clients should have the same welcoming and creative experience in both locations.

Based in London, the Scheduler is a key role that plays a key part in the smooth day to day running of our studio. Working closely with the RM and SOM they will be responsible for ensuring our projects are effectively resourced and delivered with our 2D and CG teams who are known for the outstanding quality of their technical and creative work on high-profile independent and film and TV projects.

The Scheduler will work closely with the SOM, RM, Heads of 2D/CG, and Production to maximise Union’s crew resources so that each project is efficiently scheduled with appropriate time and artist resources to effectively deliver all our work as per producers notes and instruction. They will help to incorporate the individual project schedules into the overall studio schedule, ensuring projects work cohesively together. With the RM and relevant teams, the Scheduler will resolve any changes or issues in project schedules/progress as they arise, escalating as needed. They will ensure artists are regularly updated on any changes and will liaise with them on holiday/time-off requests and completion of daily time-logs.

Working closely with the Operations and People teams, the Scheduler will assist with artist onboarding and development, helping to ensure that creative talent settles into the team and is nurtured internally through project allocation and team selection. This will require a good understanding of artist skills and levels so as to help coordinate and assign appropriate creative and technical resources for each project that meet both the project requirements and artist skills and experience.

The Scheduler will have an excellent understanding of, and ability to, deliver a high quality client service and be flexible and adaptable in a fast changing environment. They will be adept at building relationships at all levels, have strong problem solving skills and be able to find appropriate solutions. They will need to be highly organised and efficient with strong attention to detail and excellent spoken and written communication skills, and able to keep end users and managers informed of progress. They will be proactive and happy to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in with whatever needs doing and be comfortable switching priorities as the needs of the business change. They will be able to flex to work both as part of a wider team or autonomously and therefore be self-directed and motivated, but also know when to escalate issues. Reliability, an appetite to learn, a calm style, strong time management skills and the ability to deliver to deadlines are all also key to the role.

**Responsibilities**:
**Scheduling**:
Schedule all artists in Crewplanner (perm, fixed term and freelance) on current and upcoming projects keeping in mind overall schedule & discipline requirements ie. 2D, CG, DMP, Matchmove, Roto and Prep
Pro-actively chase unconfirmed pencils in a timely manner to allow old bookings to fall away and new business to be scheduled appropriately
Keep project schedules and Crewplanner up to date as new work and changes occur with meticulous attention to detail
Work with Wrangler team to provide accurate data for machine/power available to render farm
Work with Production to ensure daily render priorities are accounted for in the daily render planning sheet
Update through daily meetings and end of day Crew Report about any crew changes
Assist in weekly Crewing meetings with RM and follow up with crewing meeting report for attendees with actions that are outstanding
Assist the RM with the onset calendar across multiple projects
Attend and assist in Onset Fortnightly meetings; collate appropriate data in the lead up to the meeting and share the meeting report with the onset team
Ensure rigorous data collection for each project to allow for tracking and to inform artists of project requirements/changes on an on-going basis
Work with Data Analyst to capture, ingest and report project data

**Artists**:
Ensure crew log out of their machines in the evenings/weekends
Work with the Wrangler team to provide accurate data for machine/power available to render farm
Review timelogs of artists daily, and if required, individually message artists to check they are accurate.

**Based on approved logs**:
Update time spent on each project on CrewPlanner